The History of Us

Miss Kate- 4 Years Old

2012-01-30T14:08:00.000-05:00

In December, Katelyn turned 4. I cannot move into 2012 without a quick snapshot of life with this little cutie. What a sweetheart we have! She is pretty easy going, has such a great imagination and definitely knows what she wants!

My favorite thing she does right now is say "Yes, Mama", "No Mama", "I'd like more, Mama". So cute. She melts my heart.

Kate loves headbands. She refuses to let me do her hair and constantly has a headband in. She even sleeps with one at night. Though I always brush her hair out, this seriously saves me a ton of time. She inherited my thick hair. I'm not complaining.

Kate is obsessed with pajama's. If we are home, she is in them. I have had to lay down the law about not wearing them out of the house, otherwise, she'd wear them everywhere. I guess I can't blame her... she loves comfort.

Which leads me to the fact that she won't let me dress her anymore. She is very particular about what she will wear. She went through a phase this fall and refused to wear anything other than one of three Hello, Kitty shirts she owned. One parenting lesson I have learned is to pick my battles. Needless to say, she wore those shirts a lot.

Kate loves to be read to. She'll carry books around the house and always reminds me if we haven't read that day. She loves to cuddle with her Daddy. He tucks her in every night and together they sing "I love to see the Temple".

Her favorite place in the house in on the kitchen counter. It might have started because I am in that room so much. But now she will just go and sit on the counter, play with her toys, play with the magnets on the refrigerator, color in her notebook or on any scrap of paper she can find.

She's a grazer. Not so much interested in eating any definite meals. She'll have a bowl of oatmeal every morning, then an apple, then a piece of toast, and so on. (You get the picture)...

Kate is a great sister. She is always very concerned about helping Brynn. She and Easton have a great relationship. They will spend hours playing around the house. Yesterday it was building a fort, the day before they were playing house, the day before that they were watching a movie together in Mom and Dad's room.

Here's her quick answers to my questions:

Favorite color: Purple and pink (of course)

Favorite food: Apples

Favorite friends: Fatima (lives across the street) and Ellie

Favorite toys: "Glasses": she is obsessed with a Fancy Nancy book (Spectacular Spectacles). Which we read almost daily. Every day she tells me she needs glasses and that her eyes "hurt". We've accumulated quite a nice collection of sun glasses.

Favorite thing to do: Cuddle with Daddy

Dear Miss Kate, Mama and Daddy love you so much! Thanks for being such a perfect little daughter, sister and friend. We are so thankful to have you be a part of our family. Lots of love to you!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-27T20:00:00.000-05:00

Christmas came. Surprisingly, we were actually ready for it.

New York, New York

2012-01-26T14:04:00.002-05:00

December 23rd. 5 days after returning from SL. We hit N.Y.

It is only 4 hours away from us!!!

We totally forgot all our cameras. Thanks for the iPhone.

Bad pictures. But at least the trip is documented.

Highlights:

Stayed at the Marriott Marquee Hotel in Times Square.
(Got upgraded to a suite because of Adam's status. All his traveling is starting to payoff!)

Went to the Top of the Rock.

Saw the infamous Christmas Tree.

Ate at the Shake Shack.

Adam and Zach saw Phantom of the Opera.

Went to the four story Toy's R Us (never again!)

Saw the most amazing crowds I've ever seen in my life.

And some other amazing things
(Yes, I just posted a picture of the "naked cowboy" on the family blog)

Had a couple of anxiety attacks trying to find tables in restaurants big enough fit our large crowd.

Didn't lose any kids.

Didn't take enough pictures.

Probably the last trip we will take to NY with kids.

So fun!

Very stressful!

Glad to check Christmas time in NYC off our "list"

Can't wait to go back with just Adam, hit some yummy restaurants and see some shows!

Pre Christmas Trip to Utah

2012-01-23T11:45:00.000-05:00

One of my Christmas gifts was a quicky trip to Utah two weekends before Christmas. It was so fast. I had jet lag the entire time I was there. I took completely random pictures.

Here's look at my three day trip.

My wonderful parents, who I never managed to get a picture with or together for that matter. My mom is so smitten with Brynn. It is so cute.

Brynn was so wonderful the entire time. Even though she was teething, she did really good getting to know all of her grandparents and cousins again.

This is Kate "dressed up" in ribbons to surprise her cousin, Ellie. It was Ellie's birthday and Kate was her birthday present. Kate was not very happy about me sticking bows on top of her head

Here's a picture of the girls with my brother, Ryan. He's always been able to sit in the background and watch the rest of us do all the parenting. He finally joined the ranks.

It was fun to see my sister in law, Allison, pregnant. She delivered her baby the day I left. She doesn't even look pregnant in this picture. I'm so excited for them. Congratulations!!!

These girls got spoiled by Grammy. I came out with one suit case and left with two, bulging at the seams. Don't they looked so cute for church?

I also lucked out and got to see my sweet Grandma Fletcher!

This is my cute sister, Emily. She watched my girls while I went out to dinner and pulled off an amazing birthday party that weekend too.

I got to go out to dinner with my friends from Draper the very night I got in town. I was so tired after that long flight. I feel like I missed out on half of what was going on. These girls are near and dear to my heart. We've trained from triathlons together, been to San Fran, watched each others kids, sat through hours of piano lessons, had many a fun girls nights, and laughed ourselves silly. It was so fun to reconnect with them.

I also go to meet up with my high school/college darlings! (Yes, people, that is Cafe Rio and, yes, I ate there twice) We sure missed Becky and Amy. I love that we have been friends for so long and have so much history together. No matter how long it has been since we've seen each other, we slip right back into things. Love you girl!!!

Adam's family got together everyone together on Saturday night for dinner and hanging out.

It was so fun to see everyone. Sophia is SO big.

Poor River was stuck with a bunch of girls that night. He sure missed the boys.

Don't let Sean's look fool you, he's a teddy bear!

Madison is a little mommy. I am always amazed at how fast time is going by.

She's so grown up already.

We got spoiled and got to see Grandma Jones and Danielle twice. And I am bummed that I didn't get any pictures of them or with Dawn when they came over to visit. I was not a good picture taker.

This is Adam's brother, Matt. He is such a great uncle. Adam is excited because they are going to meet up for a boys trip in a couple of weekends and then we get to see Matt again at the end of February, when he passes through Boston on a business trip. We went from living 2 1/2 miles from each other to much more than that. It's been one of the hardest things about this move for both of them.

And I have to show off a picture of my mom's "new" kitchen. Since she's married to an architect/builder/someone-who-can-never-sit-still-for-two-minutes, she gets a new and improved house on a regular basis. This is the newest project. I love it. It turned out amazing!!

It seems like this post took longer to write than the entire trip lasted. It was so much fun to get to go home. My most favorite part was just hanging out with my mom. I miss her so much! I am so lucky to have been blessed to have her in my life and I am so grateful for everything she does for me and my family.

Thanks for a great trip, Mom. I love you so much!!

a random smattering of thoughts..

2012-01-19T14:59:00.000-05:00

My life. There is a new kind of busyness about it. I am not sure if that has to do with adding number four or just life on the East coast in general. In reality, it does take me a good nine months or so to start to feel back to normal after having a baby. Brynn's nap schedule is pretty consistent, the hormones have leveled out, I'm sleeping through most nights. Which really means that Brynn is sleeping through the night. With the exception of this week because of course three new teeth have emerged, topped off with a cold.

Whenever Adam travels (he's gone this week), I always have high hopes of using any extra time to work on long delayed projects. Extra time? What's that? I am busy from 6:30 am to 10 pm. All. day. long. There is always food to make, errands to run, messes to be cleaned up. Needless to say, no projects got done. But I am getting into a pretty set routine. So I have high hopes that someday some of those projects will get done.

........................................

I made the comment to Adam a couple of months back that even though we moved across the county, life is still pretty much the same. Doesn't he think so too? The look he gave me back was priceless. Life couldn't be more different for him. The work environment, walking down the street every morning to take the bus to the T, traveling more than he ever had before. Everything. Everything. Everything. For me, not as much as you'd think. I wake up early, get the boys off to school, laundry gets done, shopping lists are made, food gets made/cooked/served/cleaned up, bathrooms are cleaned, exercising, reading, playing, shuffling kids from one activity to another, church meetings, callings to fullfill, holidays to celebrate... you get the picture right? Not to down play the importance of living close to family and friends that I adore and miss like crazy. It's just that most of my life happens within the four walls of the house that I am living in and has to do with these four children that I am raising.

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A couple years back I swiped a book from my mom's book shelf called Simple Abundance. It got put in my ever evolving 'to-read someday' book stack. Well, I selfishly brought it to Boston with me and I picked it up at the beginning of the year. The idea is to read a short entry every day of the year, get inspired, appreciate life, yada yada. You get the point, right? I think I already have pretty good perspective and I am definitely a glass half full kind of girl. But already it has helped me step back and look at what's really important in life. One of the questions it asked the other day was what makes you truly happy. I was able to re-evaluate how I was choosing to spend my time and re-assign priorities to that. I like reading stuff that gives you a different perspective. It's a good book. Definitely one I'd recommend. Here's another one that is excellent, if you're into that kind of stuff.

........................................

Finally, let talk about why it is so dang hard to raise a healthy family in this day and age? Every which way you turn there is offerings of sugar, treats, junk food, fast food. Over the past few months I've dug in and have been reading books like Food Matters, In Defense of Food and watched shows like Food Inc., Forks over Knive and you tube videos like this one (or just read this article). It's frustrating when I'm trying to teach my children what a healthy lifestyle looks like, why sugar is a special treat, why it's important to be active, why we need to eat more fruits and vegetables... and yet they are getting the opposite messages every where they turn. Commerials, media in general, school, church activities. It's hard not to get discouraged and frustrated. And, yet, knowledge is power and more than anything I am feeling empowered lately. I like that.

Ok, I'm done. Just some thoughts I wanted to jot down and remember someday. I added the picture above to show off my friends front yard and cute little Brynn. Could you imagine waking up to that everyday? Once the lake freezes over, we can take the kids over there to ice skate on it.

I'm back into blogging groove. Look for some more posts soon.

And to answer my first question, it's definitely the four kids.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T10:54:00.000-05:00

From our house to yours...

And, yes, we are so thankful for "Goggle". Auto correct has provided every single person we sent a card to with a very good laugh.

Thankfulness

2011-12-10T17:45:00.001-05:00

Adam's dad came into town to celebrate Thanksgiving. It's sad that this is my only picture of him.

We had a lot of fun going to many of our favorite local farms.

Over all, hosting my very first Thanksgiving dinner was a success. Notes for next year:

Definitely buy turkey from Wilson farms again!

Yeast breads and I have a love/hate relationship.
I love to eat them, I'd love to be able to make them, but they hate me and never turn out.

My rolls looked like oversized golf balls.

Any one want to come to Boston and give me a lesson?

This one has a birthday coming up. We made a paper chain to countdown to the big day.

Which, by default, is also our count down to Christmas :)

The tree is up, the stockings hung, and the gifts are ordered...

but there is still much to do: wrapping, cooking, baking, a short trip to Utah, an even shorter trip to New York, reading Christmas stories, making memories, and, of course, remembering the reason for this wonderful season!

Love this time of year. There is much to be thankful for!

Brynn is so excited to spend a long weekend seeing her grandparents, cousins,

aunts/uncles and friends! It's my Christmas present. I can't wait!!!

Brotherly Love

2011-11-19T22:28:00.001-05:00

Boredom Busters

2011-11-16T14:23:00.001-05:00

4:30pm.... the sunsets

by 4:45pm... it's completely dark.

welcome fall/daylight savings time

at our last enrichment night, we had a brainstorming session.

here are some of the great ideas people came up with.

i realize some of it is specific to our area,

but most of the list is comprised of fun ideas you can do at home...

instead of having to resort to electronic's for their entertainment and your sanity!

shovel

museum passes

sledding

hockey

board games

puzzles

snowmen

clay

fingerpaint

playdough

bowling

candlelight dinner

art kits

rotate toys

chores

minute to win it

food shapes

music

dance party

hootenanny

train museum

doll museum

peabody essex museum- film

plaster fun time

kids workshops (home depot, michael’s)

crafts/painting

movies

house decoration tour

ride the T

roller skating

Jordan’s furniture

puppet theater

balloon volleyball

lego masterpiece

schedule-ritual day

square dance

cosmetology school makeovers

ice skating

monster golf

monster mash-ice cream + mixins

make own pizza

tea party

bubble bath + book

make a movie

turn off lights flashlights/light up ball

playgroup at church

ice sculptures on the common

Boston public library

chuck e. cheese

museum of science/omni theater

free museum days

national parks- mills, minuteman

aquarium

indoor obstacle course

church gym

new activity or hobby

photo scavenger hunt

abc scavenger hunt

snow shoeing

cross country ski

photo booth

indoor picnic

breath in

2011-11-12T19:02:00.001-05:00

we raked, piled, and jumped in loads of leaves.

z finished his football season.

q lost his second tooth.

b did a little more than just army crawl.

i started this.

tomorrow is cafe rio night

with great friends

and my favorite chocolate cake.

today i am remembering to breath in this good life...

Don't Mess with Me

2011-11-06T14:33:00.000-05:00

His second season is looking promising...

We might have a football player in the making.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T12:26:00.000-04:00

Remember the post on our lion costume?

We're putting it to good use again.

Brynn - 6 1/2 months

Kate - 10 months

Q - 7 months

Z-man 9 1/2 months

Power of Moms Retreat

2011-10-28T22:01:00.000-04:00

Fall is, by far, my most favorite season. So I was giddy with excitement to see that there was going to be a Power of Moms Retreat at Lake Winnipesaukee right smack-dab in the middle of October. I've been hearing about the fabulous NH fall foliage from my wonderful in-laws for years. I was so excited to get to experience it myself.

So with my always supportive husband maintaining the status quo at home... I got to spend a couple of days reflecting on my role as a mother and learning about ways I can do it even better. We got to meet at a beautiful home that was set at the edge of one of the most amazing lakes I've ever seen. This retreat brought together women from all over the country. But we all have one thing in common... we all want to be the best mother we can be for our families. It was so refreshing to gather with other women who are passionate about being great mothers. I came home with so many ideas, desires and wants for my family.

My biggest take aways were...

* How important it is to create a family culture. That you have to do so with intention. It will take some work, but it will be so worth it. We need to protect our family time. This culture is the glue that bonds you together.

* Remembering the importance of traditions. I've talked about some of our family traditions here, but I came home with so many more ideas. I am excited to implement a lot of these. We were told we need to "foster moments of joy". Love that.

*Mind Organization for Mom's. I'm excited to implement this. I've tried lots of systems to get organized. This one just makes sense.

* Enjoy motherhood and have fun! For the most part, I do this. But it can get stressful around here at times. I need to remember to laugh through the hard stuff. Because it isn't going to last forever.

I left the retreat uplifted and inspired. There was a wonderful feeling, an energy, that I left with. I wish I could bottle it up and give to all my family and friends in this season of life.

The retreat was the main course, but the scenery was dessert. I loved seeing all the trees displaying so many vibrant colors. Fall always reminds me pause and reflect... evaluate how far I've come. How much I have changed over the years. It helps me appreciate the maturity that has come with age.

I love being a mother. The greatest compliment my kids can give me one day, would be to say "My mother had the greatest job on earth. She loved what she got to do every day."

Not feeling like myself these days

2011-10-28T19:38:00.001-04:00

Two weeks ago, under doctors orders, I was forced to start wearing my glasses. Apparently, my severely blood shot eyes weren't just a result of my sleep deprivation and they needed a break. I do not like wearing them. I'm a contacts kind of girl.

Then I went to get a trim last week. I'm not sure how "let's take an inch off and give me some long layers" turned into over three inches of my hair on the floor. Considering it was my bi-annual cut, I guess I'm off the hook for a while before I try to find another hairdresser. I'm pretty sure the girl I went to will not be seeing me ever again.

I guess my haircut is growing on me. But here's to hoping I get permission to wear my contacts again really soon.

Topsfield Fair: The Oldest Agricultural Fair in Ameria

2011-10-28T15:18:00.000-04:00

Everyone told us that we HAD to go to the Topsfield Fair.

So we went.

and you know what we discovered???

that it was just a regular old fair.

With lots of gross fried food, annoying carnival games you can never actually win,

rides that make you feel sick to your stomach.

And, in the end, leaves you with a lot less cash than you had going in.

Sorry, Topsfield, you weren't my favorite adventure.

Time goes by way too fast

2011-10-28T12:00:00.000-04:00

Brynn is already 6.5 months old.

She's sitting up.

Crawling all over the place.

Eating real food.

Taking lots and lots of naps.
She's happy and content... to be held all the time :)

She's the apple of my eye.

I love this age.

Brooksby Farm: A New England Tradition

2011-10-27T21:11:00.002-04:00

A little apple picking and a little sampling

Endless fields of apples

Hay Rides

End with some cider donuts and hot apple cider.

Museum of Natural History

2011-10-27T21:11:00.001-04:00

This place is cool!

Sports

2011-10-27T21:11:00.000-04:00

Some things never change. Both boys are playing soccer. Zach is also playing flag football.

So far, we have found both sports to be very competitive.

One of Zach's football teammates has cried two weeks in a row after getting yelled at by the coach.

Umm, hello people.... they are 8 years old and this is not the NFL. Chill.

The Great Whale Watching Escapade

2011-10-27T21:10:00.001-04:00

September 2011

In theory, this trip sounded like a great idea... however, I am going to venture out on a limb and tell you that we are probably not going to be going another whale watching tour anytime soon.

Kate was sick, both Adam and I were feeling slightly nauseous, Brynn was just too young (I know!), it was really cold, the boys were bored and it took a really long time there and back. I sure wish I was all rosy about this trip, but it was really not a lot of fun for any of us. Oh well, we live and learn.

On the upside, it was really pretty.

First Day of School

2011-10-27T21:10:00.000-04:00

Day 5: Harvard Yard, Museum of Science and goodbye for now..

2011-10-27T19:30:00.000-04:00

Museum of Science is really cool. We are now the proud owners of an annual membership

because #1) my Dad is very generous and paid for us all to get in for a whopping 2 hours. #2) Because it costs the same amount to visit once, as would for an annual pass.

That's highway robbery people!

Needless to say we are really looking forward to visiting there A LOT during these long, cold months!

These two had so much fun there. They just couldn't stop smiling.

Harvard Yard was just awesome!

Easton rubbing the boot for good luck

What a great trip. It was so much fun to show off our "new" hometown and I think my parents can see why we like it so much. There is always something new and fun to do.

I'm already compiling another list for their next trip. (hint, hint)

Day 4: Old North Bridge. Concord, Ma

2011-10-27T16:24:00.000-04:00

This was our post church activity on Sunday.

It was really neat to see this historical site and listen to the description of the events

that sparked the Revolutionary War.

I'm so glad this ended up on our radar at the last minute.

I look forward to going back again.

Mostly, so that Adam can have a chance to listen to the details...

while I take child watching duty.

Day 3: Rockport, Ma

2011-10-27T16:23:00.001-04:00

Remember how I said that Walden Pond might be my favorite place....I lied.

Because Rockport, hands down beats it.

Rockport is this cute little town, on the coast.

Its eclectic, artsy, quaint.

I could spend a week there.. without my kids... spending lots of time/money in the little shops that lined the street. It seemed like a little town that jumped right out the pages of a novel.

I'm already plotting my return. It involves a certain someone as my date, a babysitter, an entire free Saturday, some fresh lobster and magnificent views.

L.O.V.E.

Labor Day Visitors: Day 1 and 2

2011-10-27T16:23:00.000-04:00

We got more visitors over Labor Day weekend!

There is nothing like your parents coming for a visit.

It's just plain wonderful.

We ran these two ragged though.

I think they thought they were coming for a relaxing vacation.

But there is none of that around here...

As you can see, we go, go, go!

Day 1: We hit Costco (for loads of food) and the Burlington Mall (school clothes shopping!)

(Probably my Dad's biggest nightmare. We should have left him home with the boys :)

Not to worry though, he did plenty of this throughout the trip.

With all this technology, is there ever anything like a true vacation???

Day 2: Downtown Boston on the Trolley Tour

Faneuil Hall and an awesome pose from Zach!

We chose the Trolley Tours over the Duck Tour,

so that we could get on and off at the different historical sites.

My cute mom

Portable milk. Best invention ever!

The famous Mike's Pastry in the North End

The Swan Boats of Boston at the Public Gardens

Mr. Independence

2011-10-27T10:32:00.000-04:00

This kid has a personality that matches that crazy hair on top of his head.

He's also been the one that I have spent many days and nights with

my stomach tied up in knots over.

But you know what? He is SO independent.

And I'm starting to realize that even though I've worried so much about him,

he's actually turning into the least of my concerns.

This kid has street smarts.

He's adaptable.

He makes friends with everyone.

Young and old.

He's clever and resourceful.

He doesn't care what people think of him. Most stuff just rolls off his back.

He's comfortable in his own skin and doesn't mind being on his own or alone.

And, darn it, when he tells me (in the middle of downtown Boston) that he is going to go find some ice cream and pay for it with the small amount of change he brought with him... he actually means it. Whether the trolley bus waits for him or not!

And you know what, he found the ice cream, bummed the extra money he needed off a stranger.

And sat there as content as can be...

eating his ice cream.

That's my boy!!!

Change of Plans

2011-10-26T15:30:00.000-04:00

One morning, Kate woke up complaining of tummy pain.

Which turned into her hunched over on the carpet with blood curdling screams coming out of her tiny little body.

A quick trip to the ER turned into a 24 hour stay.

Two hospitals and one surgery later...

"Why does everything hurt so bad???"

Thank heavens for answered prayers.

For no more pain.

For my little girl to be healthy and happy again.

Vacation @ Purity Springs

2011-10-26T13:18:00.001-04:00

Picking up Zach from camp is the greatest thing ever. He always seems to have grown by years in those short weeks away from home.

Katelyn has turned into quite the poser for pictures lately.

Camp swings: River and Easton

One of the many beaches we got to hang out at.

Man alive, she is so stinkin' cute. I love her age right now.

Kate was having fun dancing on the beach one day.

(music provided by the wonderfully portable iPhone)

Matt was giddy the entire trip. Walking down memory lane.

He and Zach have a neat relationship.

Tennis lessons

Brushing up on old skills

The girls and I sat and soaked in the beautiful scenery.

While the boys did stuff like this...

and this....

(I've got about 50 other pictures to choose from and tons of video just like the one above. These boys certainly know how to entertain themselves. A big thank you to Heidi Hausknecht for teaching Adam such good form!)

More good things to come...

2011-10-21T08:31:00.001-04:00

I've got to finish up camp and the rest of the summer.... (and September and October)

Be back with more on Monday. Have a great weekend!

Surprise, surprise

2011-10-20T14:31:00.002-04:00

This guy was scheduled to come into town...

(This is Adam's dad, known to all friends, family and business associates as Big Jim)

to pick this kid up from camp...

and he brought these clowns with him!
(Sean and Matt, Adam's older brothers)

We had no idea. But it was the best surprise ever!

Our first visitors were more than welcome. We spent a few days up at camp/the family resort.

It was so wonderful!
(These three guys include all the reasons why Adam gets homesick. Especially when the Utes are playing. He was so excited to have them all here and really sad when they left. )

Breaking out

2011-10-20T14:23:00.002-04:00

One Saturday, we headed back up to camp to see Zach's counsel fire (where he earns feathers for accomplishing certain things at camp (like swimming, riflery, overnight hikes, etc)

Jefferson Cabin

Role Call

So we decided to take the kids to Storyland for the day to get Zach out of camp and have a little fun.

Everyone kept telling us "You have to go to Storyland!". Since it is only 30 minutes from camp, we decided to go for it! It's an little kids amusement park based around Mother Goose nursery rhymes. If I had to take it or leave it... I'd probably leave it. But I think the kids had fun.

Hampton Beach

2011-10-20T14:10:00.001-04:00

This is getting a little embarrassing.... yes, another beach.

This was an hour drive. SO crowded. It was definitely a destination beach for vacationers.

No worth the drive. So many more, so much closer.

This was when I decided that we needed to start staying home and let this little one take some real naps.

(Holly, this picture is for you! Yes, I am feeling really guilty looking at it right now!)

Letters from camp...

2011-10-20T14:04:00.000-04:00

How excited am I, when we get this letter from Zach on Wednesday?

I love camp, especially when my boy loves it and it's where he wants to be...

(I already had these scanned in. Adam was traveling when I got it and I really wanted him to see it. )

Then, on Friday I got a letter that said:

'Mom and Dad, I am SO homesick please come pick me up. Zach'

Heartbreaking.

As a Mom I just wanted to drive straight up there and save him!

We called. He was OK. He ended up lasting the entire time. But it was hard for him this year.

He was really homesick.

I think is had to do with a lot of changes in his life. I will be interested in seeing what he decides for next year. Easton will be heading up for his first year, as well as Sean's son, River.

Zach - Tohko Camp 2nd Year Bear Clan

2011-10-20T13:55:00.002-04:00

Madison, New Hampshire

Once July came we started gearing up for Zachary to go to camp for his second year in a row.

Logistically, it was a lot easier this year, than it was last year.

Camp is only 2 hours away from Boston.

Why?

Jones' family tradition

Big Jim came to camp when he was a young boy and later was a camp counselor.

Matt (Adam's older brother and BFF) attended camp 8 weeks a summer, every summer he was allowed to attend.

Sean (Adam's second older brother) also attended camp.

And, of course, Adam came to camp as well.

So the tradition runs strong. And to be honest, I love it! It is a boys paradise. Everybody knows everybody up here.

Look at this place. A.m.a.z.i.n.g.

We came up last year to pick Zach up from camp and from that point on I was addicted!

There is a family resort next to the boys camp that we stayed at. Kinda like the resort from Dirty Dancing, except this gets a "G" rating :)

Zach got to attend camp with his second cousin, George. Who he had never met before.

George lives in Philadelphia.

His mom and aunt drove him over. Adam hadn't seem these ladies in years.

Isn't he the cutest? Zach loves babies.

He's already asking if we can have one more.

This is where the boys stay. It is simple and humble.

But it isn't about the accommodations, it's about the experiences and memories.

Zach and Collin (his counselor this year)

Wingaersheek Beach

2011-10-19T17:27:00.000-04:00

Another Saturday

Another Beach

Did I mention we like the beach a lot?

Red Sox Game

2011-10-19T17:23:00.002-04:00

We were so excited to get tickets to the Red Sox game.

They have 'Mormon Night' here.... still seems weird to me.

But we liked the ticket prices. Of course, the night of the game ended up

right smack dab in the middle of the heat wave that hit the East Coast.

Which means the girls and I stayed home. I was disappointed. Oh well.

The boys had loads of fun!

Mom's Summer Camp

2011-10-19T17:14:00.001-04:00

A gal from the ward, who has since become a really good friend, organized a Mom's Summer Camp in July. What a clever and great idea! She had an activity planned every day for one week. She sent out the invite to everyone who was interested. You could attend any day at your convenience.

I know from the looks of it, I must be coming across as a completely irresponsible mother, dragging my newborn every which way this summer... however, I did try to stay at home most days of the week, so we could play on the weekends with Adam. So I attended just a couple of days. Here's the schedule she sent out in advance:

July 11
Canoeing
Fishing (we just go casting, I don’t put hooks on the end of our poles)
Picnic

July 12
Arts & Crafts (free at Ferullo field in Woburn)
Field games (water balloon toss, capture the flag, relay races, archery)
Picnic lunch
Swimming

July 13
Beach Day (Good Harbor $20 parking)
Bring a picnic, kites, and buckets to catch crabs in

July 14
Minuteman bike trail start at Bedford (take exit 31B off of 95 (4/225 N toward Bedford), go
1.1 miles, turn left at Loomis St, go to end of street with intersection with South Rd, bikeway is
adjacent to freight house)
Picnic lunch at Kimball’s Ice Cream after

July 15
Blueberry picking Parlee Farm
4pm swimming
Bring hot dogs and s’more fixings for a campfire in our backyard

Good Harbor Beach

This beach was just ok for me. But I think that has to do with the fact

that I was doing it all alone (since Adam was at work).

But I preferred Long Beach... with Adam and the bigger waves for body boarding

Minuteman Trail

Q and Z went on the bike ride with friends this day.

I met up with them at Kimball Farms for a picnic lunch and ice cream.

I realize these are not my kids. But are those not the biggest looking ice cream cones you've ever seen?

I am posting this because I made all my kids share one of those :)

Parlee Farms - Blueberry Picking

I posted forever ago about strawberry picking at this same farm.

We loved the blueberries just as much as the strawberries.

We met at Tara's house for smore's on Friday evening. What a fun week!

I loved how it was set up. No pressure to attend anything. Some days had more people than others.

But overall there was a good turnout each day.

The only thought we had after, was that it would be fun to just have a standing day each week to do a summer camp activity, instead of doing it all in one week.

Summer swimming

2011-10-19T10:38:00.002-04:00

The kids were spoiled this summer... ok, I was really the one who was spoiled. Thanks to our two fabulous neighbors and a life vest for Kate, I didn't have to take the kids swimming at a public pool once this summer. How lucky was I?

Walden Pond

2011-10-19T10:33:00.001-04:00

With all the kids in tow, I did a day trip with friends.

It was peaceful, serene, nature at it's finest!

Might be my most favorite place I visited this summer.

Niagara Falls

2011-10-19T10:11:00.000-04:00

It was a super long day in the car. We drove from Palmyra, NY to the Falls and then the entire way home. It was a Saturday... I think one of us had some obligation at church the following morning at 9am... We rolled into town at 9:30 pm. So glad we did everything we did. Including the Falls, they were unbeleivable. I'm pretty sure Brynn is an angel! She puts up with a lot from us.

On The Road Again

2011-10-19T10:05:00.000-04:00

The following morning, we decided that the 9 hour drive back home wouldn't be long enough and since we were so close, decided to drive 2 more hours west to see the Niagara Falls.

The scenery was gorgeous. Needless to say, I got a little bored in the car...

Hill Cumorah Pageant

2011-10-19T10:00:00.000-04:00

The Hill Cumorah Pageant was the actual reason for this trip. It really was amazing. We are so glad that we did it. I cannot believe that I lived my entire life in Utah and have never seen the Manti Pageant.

Kids posing at the Hill Cumorah

Family picture #1,046

We grabbed some delicious brick-oven pizza for dinner. So good!

Electronics helped pass the three hours before the pageant started.

Thank you very much iPad, iPod and iPhone. I'm sensing a theme here.

The actors mingle with the crowd before the pageant starts.

The kids had fun taking pictures with some of them.

Only picture of the evening.

It was a lot of fun. I'd highly recommend it.

Zach loved it, Easton sort of paid attention, Kate was too young for this, Brynn slept the entire time.

Church History Sites

2011-10-14T19:00:00.000-04:00

July 2011

Smith Family Log Home

Smith Family Frame Home

The Sacred Grove

Book Of Mormon Publication Site

Martin Harris Farm Site

Interestingly, someone actually lives in this home, on the site of the Martin Harris Farm.

Palmyra, New York

2011-10-14T13:00:00.000-04:00

July 2011

Goggle Maps says it takes 6 hr 39 min from our house to Palmyra NY

In reality, with 4 kids, it really takes 9 hrs 30 min

Fireworks ~ Downtown

2011-10-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

Downtown Boston on the 4th of July, you will find...

Hopefully, a parking space.

A gazillion people.

Ellen saving you a place.

These cute kids

Football playing

Lots of self-portraits of these two

Obviously, fireworks

more...

One tired family.

It was a long day and completely crazy to drag our brode out that night.
But totally worth it.

We will do it again next year.

And, yes, I put sound cancelling earphones over Brynn's ears.
She survived another adventure.

Long Beach

2011-10-14T11:00:00.000-04:00

July 4, 2011

We hit Long Beach the morning of the 4th. It was crowded and the water was blasted cold. But, the views were pristine and the boogie boarding so fun...

I officially fell in love with the beach.

Camp Zion

2011-10-14T10:00:00.000-04:00

July 2011

We went up the New Hampshire to welcome home the stake ym/yw from their trek.

Kate's half year bday

2011-10-13T20:30:00.000-04:00

June 25, 2011

Little Miss Katelyn gets to celebrate two birthdays a year.

She's spoiled like that!

Boston Common and Public Gardens

2011-10-13T20:00:00.000-04:00

One Sunday, after church, we headed downtown and walked through the Boston Common and the Public Gardens.

They've got a merry-go-round, lake and play ground all next to one another.

We chose to sit out any paying activities to keep the Sabbath.

Man, hard lessons for kids to understand at their ages.

Yes, this is the "stop taking so many pictures" look

Cool graveyards every where around here.

Nice relaxing day spent as a family.

College Reunion

2011-10-13T19:00:00.000-04:00

The stars aligned and right before we left my good friend Heather came into to town (She lives in NC). She organized a play date with all these lovely ladies.

I feel so blessed to associate with such great women. They are all excellent mothers, who are wonderful examples to me.

Heather has always been such a great influence in my life. I am so thankful for modern day technology that allows us to maintain a friendship, even though we haven't lived close to one another in years.
Let's just say, she puts up with lots of questions from me these days.

Fletchers

2011-10-13T17:00:00.000-04:00

May 2011

Laura and her family came into town to see us before we left. This is the entire Fletcher clan, minus one pea in a pod that is due to arrive in December. That would be Ryan and Allison's baby. Super excited for them to join the parental ranks.

Laura told me yesterday that they are going to be in Salt Lake in a week. I have to say, as happy as I am with my life and our experiences we are having here, I am crazy jealous! I sure wish we were going too.

I am thankful to have come across this picture and remember how awesome my family is. I love them so much.

Looking at all the pictures from May has been surprisingly hard this morning. I'm experiencing more home sickness than I have since we left. Not cool. Maybe I have subconsciously been putting off blogging for a reason. Plus, Brynn is a little nugget in these pictures. Its amazing (and sad) how fast these wee little ones grow!

Great Grandparents

2011-10-13T14:00:00.000-04:00

May 2011

I am very lucky to have three grandparents still living. Adam has adopted them as his own and we are SO grateful that we were able to see each of them before we left. And, of course, get pictures of Brynn with her Great Grandparents!

Cafe Rio

2011-10-13T12:56:00.000-04:00

May 2011

This is such a AWESOME picture on so many levels!

First off, it's a picture of my totally hot husband.

Secondly, I love that he has his blackberry in hand. Welcome to my life! I have finally had to insist that it get left in the car on date night. Apparently, the addiction for that little handheld device is stronger than my undivided attention.

Lastly, Cafe Rio. (Enough said, right?) We ate there, on average, about two times a week for the entire four months before we left. I justified it by saying that we were just using the $500 gift card Goggle gave us called "Baby Bonding Bucks" that could ONLY be used on eating out. But, let's be perfectly honestly here, we would have eaten there that much anyway. Oh, how I miss my perfect little tostada salad with that additive creamy cilantro dressing slathered all over.

Farewell Party

2011-10-13T12:48:00.000-04:00

May 2011
Before we move forward, we've got to go back... today most of my posts will be from May.

First off my parents are amazing!

I mean look at them. Don't they just look like they'd be amazing?

They threw us a going away party that was initially going to be around 40 people and soon blossomed into much more than that. What a great day! I can honestly say that all of my most favorite people were there. (With the exception of a few forgetful peeps and those who were geographically challenged.) We have both been so blessed with supportive family and friends. It's hard leaving behind such a great supporting cast. Looking through these pictures sure makes me miss all you guys so much.

Pardon me, but there gonna be a lot of pictures here...

Phew, that was a lot. Sorry if I missed getting your picture up. If you see one of yourself that you want, please let me know. I will email it to you.

2011-10-13T09:30:00.000-04:00

Par for course, behind again! Though I can officially say that four, yes the glorious number four (by way of a little baby named Brynn) has been my undoing. But it could be that with the move thrown in the mix, that threw me off my game a little bit more than normal. Still trying to figure out new systems for this house, where to store things, cleaning schedules, ect. Things I need to be able to function on daily basis. However this time there is no skipping. I am determined to document what a wild and crazy summer we had. So even though there are changing leaves outside, you'll have to put up with pictures from the summer for a few days on here. There's a lot of be documented... wish me luck!

Brynn

2011-10-06T13:28:00.000-04:00

six months old..

2011-08-05T10:59:00.000-04:00

Uploading pictures this morning because, yes, blogging has been on my mind. I have such good intentions.

Two pictures stuck out at me that I wanted to share quickly.

First, Zach's second year of camp. He's two weeks in, with one more to go. We get to see him tomorrow. I am so excited! I miss him so much. I loved coming across this picture.

Second, why do they have to go and grow up so fast? Brynn's perfectly delicious. Praying those blue eyes stick! One's gotta take, right?

We still can't decide who she looks like. Any suggestions?

I have so many things to blog about, stay tuned...

Our Summer Schedule

2011-07-14T09:00:00.001-04:00

Remember that song... "Summertime and the livin' was easy".... well, I'm not sure that applies to my life right now. Summer is busy. This is our typical summer day, if we are staying at home. We get out of the house and explore about one or two times a week.

5:30 Wake up
6:00 Hit the gym (or treadmill, if Adam's traveling)
7:00 - 8:00 Breakfast and clean up
8:00 - 10:00 Kids complete chores and reading assignments, Z practices the piano, Q practices his writing, Kate plays, I pick up the house and de-clutter.
10:00 Neighborhood kids are out in full force, anxiously awaiting mine kiddo's. Apparently, I'm the mean one who makes her children do a little work before play... but, I'm ok with that.
10:00 - noon kids play outside on swing set, swim in the pool, ride bikes
12:00 lunchtime
1:00 - 6:00 The rest of the afternoon, the kids are back outside, sometimes playing games in the house (chess is a favorite, as is lego's), occasionally watching a movie. I'm usually running around picking up after them, working on projects, still unpacking or reorganizing, doing the wash, folding/putting away laundry, making dinner, feeding the baby again and again and again. We usually squeeze in a smoothie for an afternoon snack. For some reason the entire neighborhood ends up at my house around this time. =) Should I tell them they are drinking spinach, kale and flax seed? By the way, check out this link. I don't have a fancy, shmancy blender, but this has changed my shakes. Who knew it was all about the vortex??? Awesome stuff.
6:30 Adams home... Dinner.... Play with kids....
8:00 Get ready for bed. Read to the littles. Cuddle and tuck in.
9:00 Lights out.
Ahhhh.... adult time.

Wake up the next morning and repeat.

Strawberry Picking

2011-07-13T13:00:00.000-04:00

One of the great advantages of being LDS is the instant connection you make with people. Our first week we went to church, I met some amazing sisters that I know will become close friends of mine over time. That week I was invited to go strawberry picking at Parlee Farm. So in the mist of unpacking, we headed out for the day to try our hand at picking strawberries. Probably the BEST tasting strawberry I've ever had. Sure wish I would have remember to get an up close picture of one, but with keeping track of four kids and trying to feed the baby... I'm just happy we made it there in one piece.

Life on the East Coast

2011-07-12T19:00:00.005-04:00

I love it here, but there are a few things that are different and stand out to me. I want to remember these because pretty soon, I won't even notice them.

1. It takes FOREVER to get anywhere. That includes the grocery store. No fast trips here, people. Let's start talking about meal planning now! I do not go grocery shopping with the kids. This might change once the boys start school, but for now... it's at night or Saturdays.

2. I've learned to NEVER travel anywhere between the times of 3 pm - 7 pm. Hello, traffic. I could tell you a story that includes a van full of all the kids, a rain storm, a trip to the airport, leaving at 5 pm and not returning home until after 8:00. But I think you can get the gist of it without all the details.

3. I was told New Englanders were rude, mean and blunt. I couldn't agree less. Everyone had been SO friendly and nice.

4. Nobody has garages. They park in the driveway or on the street. We have a garage that the owner cut in half, to use as an extra storage room for the basement. Since the houses out here just don't have the storage or cabinets like we are used to in Utah. We were lamenting about this to our neighbor across the street and he gave us a look like we are the spoiled, pampered ones used to parking in a garage. Yes, we are soft. But we'll toughen up over time.

5. No automatic sprinklers. It is taking some time to get used to.

6. 20 minute drive to church. We've been on time, by the skin of our teeth the past two Sundays. Note to self: wake up 15 minutes earlier this week. It's all about the timing for me. Well, that and putting my makeup on in the car.

7. Everything closes really early. Grocery stores at 9 pm. Gas stations at 9 pm. And the gas stations that we've been to are all full service. Which means that someone pumps your gas for you. However, the news doesn't start until 11pm???? That doesn't jive with my 11:00 bedtime. And, no more Nightline, 11:35 is not happening for me. Sad because that was my favorite news program to watch. (Am I getting old or what?)

8. Nobody mentioned that this place includes some sa-weet beaches. (Posting more about that soon.)

9. Everything is pretty old here. It's ok, but its taken a bit to get used to. Store are old. Houses are small. Streets are narrow.

10. No ac. It's a bugger lately with the humidity. But, whatchagonnadoaboutit?

11. The accent (obviously) and the slang is different. Examples: "wicked cool" (apparently wicked never went out of fashion here), "hello hello" (I notice this a lot. It seems to always be repeated twice.), and "I'm good" (Missionaries told us they get this a lot. They will go to the door and, IF it gets answered, once they start talking, they are told... I'm good. Which means, thank you very much, but I am not interested.)

12. There aren't any light fixtures in any of the bed rooms. So you have to have lamps. Also, all of the light switches are on the outside of the rooms. The kids think its hilarious to turn the bathroom light off while I'm in there. Weird.

13. Boston doesn't like Walmart. The closest one is over an hour away. Not that I am fan, but it is interesting. However, there are a few Targets around.

14. No fast food in most of the towns close to downtown Boston. When we came out for our "exploration" trip in March, I commented to Adam that we had been there for 2 days without seeing any fast food joints. I like that! (Let me qualify that by saying that we did end up in a town that does have a few places. Adam is thrilled because one of them is Taco Bell and the other is McD's. The two fast food places that I dislike the most!) Most of the restaurants are Mom and Pop places.

15. The drivers are so aggressive. It's unreal. And you have to pay to park everywhere. Beach, $25. Downtown parking, $24/day.

16. You ask anyone how long it takes to get somewhere here or how long their commute to/from work is and the answer always is "an hour". Even if they are driving from New Hampshire. An hour.

17. We get stared at a lot for having four kids with us. It feels like a lot out here. Most people I see have one or two kids here. Most of the LDS families we've met have 3, 4, or 5. So that feels "normal" to me.

18. Finally, there is Mormon night at Fenway Park in July. Yes, we have tickets. And, yes, it makes me feel a little weird. I am definitely in the minority here.

There's a little taste of how my life is different right now.

In the beginning...

2011-07-12T05:30:00.002-04:00

We moved out here the weekend after the kids finished up school in Utah, the beginning of June. Unbeknownst to us, Massachusetts schools start almost 3 weeks later than Utah and, after a hard winter, had a few snow days to make up for too. So the boys spent their first three weeks watching their friends catch the school bus each morning....

We've got two families that live across the street that have 4 and 5 kids. Yes, we realize we lucked out in that regard. The kids have instant friends. They all get a long so well. Hence, my previous post about Summertime.

The bus pulls up right across the street. Can you imagine how excited I am? No loading the kids into the car to drive them to school. No waking the baby up from her nap to pick them up. School hasn't even started and I am SO excited about this. I have visions of grandeur in my head; that includes the kids bursting through the door each day to fresh baked bread, cookies, fresh cut up fruit or veggies. Am I idealistic or what?

On top of the three weeks the neighbors were in school... it also rained every day for the first two weeks.

Hello, late spring.

Summertime

2011-07-06T14:12:00.000-04:00

While I was growing up, summertime meant, running around the neighborhood barefoot, laying around in the sun, finding friends to hangout with, eating popsicles, listening to music, no plans, no where to be, nobody to entertain me, trips to the library, spending time with my brother and sisters, tan lines, an occasional day at the pool, laying out your towel on the driveway to get warm after running through the cold sprinklers, playing night games, tag, hide and go seek, making forts, riding bikes, using your imagination to come up with the next entertaining thing to do, morning chores, reading, the smell of fresh cut grass, running from house to house through the neighborhood... this list could go on and on. This list, was my childhood growing up.

This list, is my kids childhood right now. And I love it so much. This is what I want for them. We don't go anywhere during the weekdays. We just let the day happen. My kids are developing their imaginations, loving the outdoors, feeling the sun on their backs, and learning to entertain themselves.

That said, the weekends are a different story. Once Adam's home, we go go go. We are trying to do and see as much as we can. It has been so easy (thank you very much GPS). And so much fun! We were at the beach on the morning of July 4th and then that night, sitting under the biggest fireworks show in the nation, listening to Martina McBride preform less than a mile away.

a.m.a.z.i.n.g.

Time is slipping away so quickly, I just want to slow down and enjoy every second I can.

More posts and updates coming next week. =)

quick update

2011-06-13T17:27:00.001-04:00

Some random thoughts...

1. This was last Wednesday...

This moving thing is a lot of work. This is what it looks like today. Some curtains up, boxes broken down and things getting put away.

2. Our first day here, our LDS neighbors are over visiting, the RS president shows up and arranges dinners for us for the next 3 nights and then the missionaries come walking down the street. HELLO, I thought I was moving away from the Mormons?

2. We went to our new ward yesterday. By the start of the third hour, Adam was given his Home Teaching assignments, an assignment to substitute teach in Elders Quorum, we have a dinner date for the missionaries to come over and an assignment to serve in the temple. Our entire stake covers 220 square miles... our ward covers 142 square miles of that 220. We feel like we will be busy and needed in this ward and that this is where we need to be.

3. Just putting away all of our clothes today. I think Adam might have a shirt fetish. This is just the dress shirts.... he's got a serious thing for t-shirts too!

4. And lastly... this one.

Well, she's pretty much perfect. Brynn's been dragged across the country. Had to take naps in a hotel room with her LOUD siblings sitting right next to her. Has had an upset tummy for the past 6 weeks... I finally got her diagnosed with reflux, on medication and she's doing much better. She's taking naps like a champ.... and I'm getting lots done while she's sleeping. Honestly, she's handled it so well and I LOVE LOVE LOVE her to pieces! Isn't she beautiful in her blessing dress???

Picture perfect

2011-06-07T22:07:00.000-04:00

The movers arrive tomorrow.... which means a lot of work unpacking.

But for now, this vacation is awesome!

So far, I'm loving Boston!!!

It's a wrap

2011-06-07T21:47:00.000-04:00

Advice: If you ever have to move across country and someone else is footing the bill....use a moving company. Because it is completely AWESOME! The movers showed up at 8:30 am, packed non-stop and left at 4:30.

Everything we own is in boxes.

The loaders showed up the following day and put it all on an enormous semi.

That took another 6 hours.

The kids saying goodbye to all their stuff.

The kids were rockstars on the plane out here. It gives me hope that plane trips back and forth might not be so bad.

This is us arriving in the Boston airport. Thank heavens for portable electronic devices!

School's Out for Summer

2011-06-07T21:26:00.000-04:00

Q and his best friend from school

Z reading Harry Potter book 5. Looks like he's learning to love reading. Love that!

Crazy hat day at school

Last Day of School Dance

It's offical

2011-06-05T22:18:00.000-04:00

As of 6 hours ago, we touched down and officially became New Englanders. Tears were shed and many goodbyes were said. But it's time and we are ready to start this new adventure. I am excited to make new memories, new friends and see where this takes us.

I was just reading a post from Sarah at Clover Lane (one of my most favorite bloggers) and she said it best...

"Ending and beginnings... so exciting, and bittersweet, and scary and fun all at the same time."

So true.

Drunk On Sweet Baby Love

2011-05-17T11:43:00.003-04:00

Losing a member of our family

2011-05-10T00:30:00.001-04:00

We bought this car a month after we'd wed. It had 39,000 miles on it. It's been with us since the beginning. We've gone back and forth on whether it should take the trip with us.... but, it would cost almost as much to ship as it's worth. Since we have hopes of being a one car family (with Adam taking advantage of public transportation), our trusty black beauty is staying behind. I just put it up on KSL. It's so sad. Feels like I'm giving away a member of our family. This car has commuted to the U., Provo, Downtown SL, took a year sabbatical when Adam had a company car, then Provo again and again. It's made multiple trips to St. George, Vegas, and Idaho Falls. And I couldn't forget all the years it took me back and forth between the spa, two or three times a week to teach my classes. The back seat has been crammed with one kid, then two and finally three... sorry, but the fourth won't fit, not matter how hard we try.

Final mileage: 171,000

Not too shabby. That's a lot of miles and a lot of memories. We always rank which purchases we've made are the best. This one is number one! We bought it for $10,500. It's been paid off for over six years.

So as we get ready to celebrate 10 years of marriage this summer, we sure are going to miss our "sports car".

What a long, strange trip it's been (so far)

2011-05-05T21:55:00.003-04:00

I wanted to document the journey we have been on since Adam first started interviewing for this job, so that we can remember what a crazy time this is in our life right now. This could be insanely boring for most of you... feel free to move right along.

I have said to many that what we are attempting right now is absolutely crazy. I remember reading once that you should only have one big life changing event occur at a time. Well, we certainly haven't followed that advice very well. Adam starting a new job, moving across the country and adding a new baby to our family has made this a spring to remember.

Dec 2, 2010 Adam is contacted by a Google recruiter to see if he is interested in a job opportunity with Google and would he be interested in relocating to Boston, Ma or Austin, Tx. Adam responds that yes, indeed he would be very interested. Recruiter forwards his information to the next person dealing with this position. When Adam tells me he's been contacted by Google, I just look at him and ask if that's supposed to be a big deal. He wasn't very happy with my response. Apparently, I was unaware (and have since been corrected) that working for Google is in fact a very big deal. I am onboard with pursing this opportunity. But the more we look into the hiring process for Google, we learn that it is nearly impossible to make it through the interview process and actually get a job offer. Fortune magazine has ranked Google as one of the best companies to work for. This year they were #4. Not too shabby. Thus starts our roller coaster ride.

Dec 10, 2010 Adam has a phone interview. Kills it. Gets forwarded along.

Dec 12, 2010 Adam flys to Boston for a bunch of round robin interviews. Doesn't get to the hotel until 1 am. Unable to fall asleep for a long time. Exhausted the following day for his interviews.

Dec 13, 2010 Interview Day. Has several interviews with a potential manager and then several of that manager's bosses. I think it was four or five total interviews. Informed that there are 20 people interviewing for the same position that day. All interviews go great, until the final one. Google requires that all prospective employees answer both brain teasers and coding/algorithm questions. Here are a few examples (warning: they might make you feel really stupid or really smart)

Q: "If you were the NBA commissioner and wanted to expand into China, how would you go about it?"

Q: "How many tires are manufactured in the world each year?"
Q: "How many integers are there between 100 and 150 that are divisible by 3 and 5?"
Q: "You have eight balls all of the same size. 7 of them weigh the same, and one of them weighs slightly more."

Q: "How can you find the ball that is heavier by using a balance and only two weighings?"

I can't remember which exact questions Adam was asked. But I couldn't answer any of them. Adam left the interview frustrated, but hopeful. All the other interviews went extremely well. He just wasn't prepared for the last one with the insane questions.

Adam is also asked to fill out a very lengthy job application. This isn't just a regular job application. In addition to the regular job history stuff, they wanted to know about extracurricular activities he participates in outside of work, weird and interesting facts about himself, and leadership experience that he's had. It took several days to get it all filled out. All of this gets forwarded to his recruiting contact.

Dec 17, 2010 Adam is told he is moving forward through the application process. His recruiter starts compiling his packet. It's the recruiters job to assemble a packet on each person going through the interview process. This packet gets forwarded and reviewed by 3 separate committees. Any one of these committees has the power to approve or deny that person from proceeding on.

Dec 20, 2010 Another phone interview with another potential manager. Goes extremely well! Then Christmas/New Years hits. Everyone is out of the office for two weeks. Makes for a long waiting game for us. Adam does find out that he has to re-do the analytical/algorithm interview to be able to move forward. He hits the internet and starts researching how to answer those types of questions. He studies and then studies some more. One of Adam's strong personality traits is that he is always overly prepared, whether it be a talk in church or a presentation for work.

Jan 6, 2011 Adam's re-do interview with the same guy who gave it the first time around. By this time, Adam has mastered these types of questions. His interview goes extremely as well! He is approved to move forward through the hiring committees.

Jan 10, 2011 To forward Adam through to the hiring committee, they had to contact three references. Unfortunately, they can't get a hold of 2 of the references. So frustrating! The 1st hiring committee gets bumped another week. More waiting.

From Jan 10th thru 24th Lots of patience and waiting. After three long weeks, he finally passed all 3 hiring committees and is just waiting for the final job offer.

Jan 27, 2011 Finally the offer letter arrives. Adam and I start saying lots of prayers.... ok, that had actually been happening all along. So the entire process took two long months. We are told this is actually a really fast turn around for Google. The hiring process for most lasts at least 4 months.

Feb 3, 2011 After some negotiating and finalizing of a relocation package, Adam accepts the job!!! We are moving to Boston, Ma.

Feb 14-18, 2011 Adam is in California for Googles new hire orientation. For the week, he is known as a Noogler. He's then home for the weekend.

Feb 21 thru Mar 7Adam flys to Austin, Tx for three days to meet with his new sales team. Then heads up to the Boston office for the rest of his two week stint away. I hold down the fort while Adam is gone. We survive!

Mar 3-7, 2011 I fly to Boston to meet up with Adam to get a relocation tour of the area and look at some houses to rent. Everything is really small and really old. Nothing we looked at would work, nor would it still be available in June. We come home to a newfound appreciation for our home. Though it is small by Utah standards, to us it now seems like a mansion. We attended several wards on Sunday and got a good feel for the different areas and people. Everyone we met was so incredibly friendly.

Mar 7, 2011 Adam works from home for the next 2 weeks. We LOVE having him home.

Mar 22-Apr 1, 2011 Adam in Boston again. At my 37 week appt on Mar. 23, I am dilated to 2 cm and 60% effaced. My doctor thinks it's crazy that Adam is clear across the country. I am now convinced that I am having this baby all by myself. Anxiety sets in and lasts throughout the week. At my next appt on Mar 29th, there is no change. I start to think we might actually get him home before baby comes. Adam claims he was never worried about missing it. (I had never delivered a baby early yet!)

April 5, 2011 Bynn Valerie Jones is born! What a great day!!!

April 13 - 15, 2011 Adam gone. I survive being a single mom of four kids for a 48 hour period. Let's be honest though, Brynn just slept the entire time anyway.

April 20 - 21, 2011 Gone again.

May 2 - 6, 2011 One more trip out to Boston to hopefully secure us a home. A member of the church has a home for rent that sounds like it might be a good option for us. Trying to find a home has probably been the most stressful part of this entire process for me. Adam has to deal with that, on top of starting a new job and getting up to speed on all the new products he is now selling. He definitely has a heavy load to carry. He's doing such a great job and I'm so proud of him! On top of everything else, let's remember that every day that Adam's not traveling, he's at home working in the freezing, cold basement. I will have to remember to get a picture of him downstairs working on his computer, wrapped up in a blanket and huddled around our space heater. He periodically comes upstairs for a replacement Diet Coke and all he can say is, "It's just so cold down there". He loves when I leave the house with the kids, so he can work upstairs where it's warmer!

That's it so far. We are still trying to find renters for our house here. But had 2 different people come through today that were both very interested! At this point, we have four weeks left. The movers are packing up the house May 26 and 27th. Now that we are down to less than a month left, the reality is starting to sink in. Come June 2011, this family of ours will officially be New Englanders.

How crazy is that?

Brynnee Bear

2011-05-05T15:34:00.000-04:00

We are notorious for giving our kids nicknames relatively quickly... this one has already adopted the name Brynnee Bear. Isn't she so sweet?

Brynn turned 4 weeks old on Tuesday and could not possibly be a better baby. She has already fit right into our family and, honestly, has not disrupted the flow of daily life too much. Other than the fact that we don't go anywhere these days. But that's ok with me. I'd rather be here than anywhere else anyway.

The kids adore her, each one taking their turn to hold and stroke her head. You can often hear Adam and I say over and over again to each other, "She's so cute" and "She's just so tiny".

At her two week appointment, she weighted 7 lbs. Back to her birth weight, plus 1 oz. She's a master nurser and does pretty great sleeping at night. Other than waking up every 3 hours to eat, Brynn falls right back to sleep, giving her Mama as much sleep as she possibly can get squeezed in.

We sure love her to pieces already! So glad she is finally here.

Zach ~ 8 Year Update

2011-04-29T18:28:00.001-04:00

FAVORITES

Food: Pizza... no surprises here. At least over the years he's consistent

Color: Green

Sport: Football. Zach played flag football this past fall, after deciding that the competitive soccer team he was playing on wasn't exactly what he wanted to be doing. He really excelled at it and had a lot of fun playing it to.

Friends: Jacob Branca and Mitchell Heaton. These are his good friends from school.

Movie: Harry Potter

Book: Harry Potter Series. Zach just finished the 4th Harry Potter book. He's my book worm and I love it. I hope all my kids find the joy that a good book brings!

School Subject: Math =)

Loves: Going to the movies. Playing night games. Riding his bike.

Not looking forward to: Moving. Just keeping in real here, folks. He's, by far, the one who understands what this move really means. He's got great friends at school and here in the neighborhood. He knows his life is going to change in a BIG way really soon!

Zach's gone from my easiest kid to one of my hardest this past year. He challenges everything I say to him or ask him to do. I find myself saying far too often, "Because I said so". He doesn't listen very well and I have to ask him to do things over and over again before he actually does it. I hope this is a phase that he grows out of really soon!

That said, he is an excellent student. He's continued to do very well in school. I love that he has been challenged in Math this year and chooses to read books that push his ability to read to new levels. He is a great piano player and is very talented. So in between have to ask him repeatedly to practice and him threatening to quit, I have really enjoyed hearing him excel at a musical instrument. I know in the future, he will be grateful for having this talent!

Zach's gotten to be so independent. I love it! He is able to get completely ready for school, can make his own hot breakfast (if he needs to) and he's been such a great help with the baby. He loves holding her and giving her lots and lots of loves.

Since I missed so many posts, I need to mention his baptism. He was baptized on February 19, 2011 by his father. What a great day! I am so proud of his choice to be baptized and watching him develop his own testimony. His knowledge of the gospel and the Book of Mormon blows me away. He is going to make a great missionary today. We were so grateful for all the amazing support we had from all our family and friends. We have been so blessed to live so close and have such great support for all these big milestones in our lives so far!

His baptism photo shoot turned out so great. I love that his personality really came through!

Easton ~ 6 Year Update

2011-04-29T18:04:00.002-04:00

FAVORITES

Food: Red Doritos (really???), why can't my kids say carrots or broccoli?

Color: Red

Sport to Play: Soccer

Friends: Connor, Parker and Cole. Connor (10) and Parker (12) are our totally awesome next door neighbors. They, along with Zach are constant companions. They play basketball together, night games, hunt up in the "woods, ride bikes. We are really going to miss these guys! Cole is Easton good friend he has made at school. They have had endless play dates together this year.

Activity: Playing video games

Movie: Harry Potter

Book: Junie B. Jones ~ We read each night. After going through the first 10 books of the Magic Tree House series, he's now enjoying Junie B.'s antics!

Thing at School: Recess. Ummm, not surprising for this one. However, Easton has really blossomed in school this year. He's reading really well and has done a great job adjusting socially as well. My homeboy has turned into quite the social butterfly!

Easton is such a wonderful joy to have around. He is my best helper and, by far, my best listener right now! He is so sweet and, as always, very tender. This year was a big growing up year for him... as I think Kindergarten does that for this age! He's done a great job at school. Out of all the kids, he was the most excited about the baby coming. Every night, he's make sure to kiss my tummy and tell the baby good night. He's always talk about when the baby comes and, now that she's here, he is so loving with her. I love watching him grow into the wonderful boy he's becoming! It makes the earlier, harder years so, so worth it!

I know this is not the "cutest" picture. But is really shows Easton's outrageous, fun personality!

Kate ~ 3 year Update

2011-04-29T17:48:00.001-04:00

FAVORITES

Food: She's my snacker.... all. day. long. It drives me crazy. We are always in the kitchen. She loves to snack on fresh fruit, bread with jam, yogurt.... ok. pretty much anything I am willing to give her.

She favorite treat is gum balls. I bought some to bribe her to get potty trained. It worked like magic. Totally worth a little dose of sugar!

Movie/TV show: Dora/ Any of the Disney Princesses

Color: Purple

Friends: Morgan and her cousin, Ellie

Toys: Playdoh,

Kate loves imaginary play. She does such a great job entertaining herself. Girls are so different than boys. My boys were constantly looking for me to provide them with entertainment. I love that she's content to play with her figurine princesses, barbies, kitchen stuff, dolls, the list could go on and on.

Kate has been so lucky to get loads of attention from all the girls in our neighborhood. When the boys go outside to ride their bikes and shoot baskets, of course their little sister want to tag along. But I can't always be outside watching her... enter my sanity. There are 3 neighborhood girls, one on each side of us and one across the street. They are all 8 and adore Kate. They put her in the stroller and push her around and just let her tag along in general. I have been spoiled and will really miss this when we move!

introducing...

2011-04-21T02:03:00.000-04:00

Brynn Valerie Jones

April 5, 2011.... 2:51 pm

6 lbs. 15 oz..... 18 inches long

She's here. And couldn't be more perfect!

So far behind... I give up

2011-04-21T01:31:00.000-04:00

I kept thinking that I'd get around to blogging about Kate's bday, Christmas, Zach's bday, Easton's bday, Adam's bday, the fact that we are moving across the country, and my pregnancy... but I am decidedly done. I. give. up.

The Fun Begins

2010-12-06T01:30:00.003-05:00

Adam is a very responsible and attentive husband. Every year, come Dec 1st, he's very diligent about asking me what I want for Christmas. Then he hits the internet. Then the packages start arriving. Brown boxes bearing my gifts. I never have any clue as to what is behind that thick brown taping. He doesn't even bother to put them away. They just sit on my kitchen counter taunting me.

My presents to Adam have a different story. And you get to read about it because 1) your here and 2) I want to remember it. The first year we were married, I was so excited. I had the BEST gift in mind for Adam. I'm pretty sure I had already purchased it, but it wasn't picked up yet. So Adam starts asking me what I am getting him for Christmas and he wants to make it into a game. So he says starts by asking me questions. Eventually he ends with did you buy the present from anywhere north of 2100 so.? I say yes. He says, Wow I am so excited to get my new ski rack.

Talk about taking the wind out of my sails. So annoying.

This has happened so many times, it's uncountable at this point in time. Forward to this weekend's conversations.

Him: What are you getting me?

Me: I have a few things in mind.

Him: Does it cost more than $100

Me: Yes

Him: More than $2oo

Me: Yes

Him: Well, if your thinking about getting me a new guitar, just get my old one out and see if you can't get it fixed up somewhere and save us a lot of money.

Me: Your so annoying!!!

How does he get inside my brain? It's not like I am writing this stuff down for him to see.

Happy 60th Old Man

2010-12-06T01:17:00.007-05:00

On Saturday, my Madre surprised my Pa with an early 60th Birthday party. It was so fun to surprise him, even though it was like pulling teeth to get him there.

Highlight of the party: Emily and I trying to transfer the Costco cheesecake to an nicer plater.

It didn't go so well.

Trying to cover up the botched transfer job.

Good news, cheesecake still tastes the same whether it is in nice slices or a crumbled mess.

Bigger highlight: Laura, Drew, Caleb, Bryce and Ian in town for the surprise!

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

We ♥ Christmas Time

2010-12-06T01:07:00.006-05:00

We got in the annual trip to Temple Square early this year. So nice. It was a balmy 44 degrees out and not too crowded!

Decorating the annual gingerbread house

Funny poses... thanks Easton

Christmas tree decorations

Adding the annual star on top and lighting "ceremony"

Family picture

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-06T00:58:00.005-05:00

Every year we trade off which family we celebrate Thanksgiving with. This year was the Jones' year. My father-in-law arranged for us to all stay in Park City over the weekend. It was a lot of work, but loads of fun. The kids went sledding.

Ate a LOT of food. A favorite of the Jones' is the chocolate fountain.
And the kids adored the hot tub.
The adults had a good time letting the kids run amuck, playing games, watching a lot of football and enjoying each others company!

Letters to Santa

2010-12-06T00:48:00.008-05:00

If this isn't the cutest thing. Some how, for some insane reason, Adam and all the kids ended up at the mall with me... shopping for makeup.

Fun times!

Until, we happened upon this cute "letter to santa" station that was set up right in front of the Clinique counter. What a life saver. The kids wrote their letters to Santa and mailed them off. I am just bummer they are not in my possession for my keepsakes albums for each of the kids. Oh well, pictures will have to do for this year.

2010-12-06T00:41:00.003-05:00

Loving: Our season tickets to the U of U football games

Loving: My iPhone, especially the camera!

Loved: The U's start this football season

Hated: The Utes being way overrated this year, having a terrible last half of the year, and sitting through the "Black Out" game having our butts kicked by TCU.

Loved: The questionable, last minute, but we'll take it Victory over BYU!!!

Loved: Sending Zach, in my stead, to see the Utes victory over BYU. He has such a great time.

She's so precious

2010-12-06T00:39:00.001-05:00

Cute: Kate "reading" to her dolls from Dad's iPad

Scary: The fact that this almost 3 year old has mastered and can navigate any iPad or iTouch within her reach

Halloween 2010

2010-12-06T00:08:00.015-05:00

We had a great Halloween this year.

Complete with:

One Karate Kid

One Ninja

One Wonder Woman

Carving pumpkins
Making candy apples
(Good thing I am not aspiring to be Bakerella!)
The finished product

Zach's Classroom Halloween Party

Followed by Easton's Classroom Halloween Party
Trick-or-treating at Adam's work
A scrumptious Halloween dinner

Reminder to self: Make Colleen's chili recipe again. So so good!

Loads of CANDY and trick-or-treating in the rain!

It's a GIRL

2010-12-06T00:03:00.003-05:00

For the sake of documentation, on Oct 20th, we went and saw my dear friend Becky (who has managed the Fetal Photos in Murray for at least the past 7 years) and found out we are going to even out our numbers around here. It's a girl and we are so so excited about it!

Kate is obsessed with lifting up my shirt to "see) the baby, even in front of company.

Easton keeps saying his prayers and always asks for the baby to come soon.

We are all so excited and can't wait for her to join our family. She is already so loved!

Halloween pictures already?

2010-10-04T17:39:00.004-04:00

No.

How about this is what happens when you are supposed to be an attentive parent watching your daughter and her cousin during their payday, but instead you get the great idea to sit at the computer and blog for an hour.

This is what I found upstairs. Two little girls covered head to toe in baby powder. They both smelled really good. However, I am a little nervous to wash Kate's hair tonight.

Anyone remember the friends episode with Ross and the baby powder/lotion/leather pants?

I am considering having Kate be a ghost for Halloween. She pulls it off pretty good.

We haven't forgotten about this one...

2010-10-04T15:40:00.001-04:00

Miss Kate has been very patient this fall season. She's gotten dragged around from activity to activity. Just want to remind myself how darling she is.

Picture Day

2010-10-04T15:32:00.005-04:00

i know i just posted first day of school pictures, but since the kids wear uniforms every day, except on picture day, i gotta show off how cute they are. besides, my pictures turned out way better than the ones that got sent home.

Fall Sports Run Down

2010-10-04T15:15:00.007-04:00

In case you don't have kids as old as ours yet, please let us be guinea pigs for you and take our mistakes into consideration. Our current mistake: Thinking it would be a great idea to sign BOTH the boys up for TWO fall sports. Which meant that we were committed to sport activites 5 - 6 nights/days a week. Let's recap our current schedule:

Monday- Easton t-ball

Tuesday- Zach soccer practice and flag football game

Wednesday- Easton t-ball

Thursday- Zach soccer practice and flag football game

Friday- occasional soccer game for Zach

Saturday- Easton soccer game and usually a soccer game for Zach

Don't feel sorry for us. It is all self inflicted. But with the construction on 13th East, 7th East and 10600th South driving to and from practices and games has been a nightmare in and of itself.

Q Showing his soccer moves

Zach is playing on a competition soccer team.

Cool: the uniforms.

Not cool: the time commitment.

Easton is a little social butterfly. He's more interested in making friends then playing the game. He's got a wicked throw and is pretty decent at bat too!

In Case You Haven't Heard...

2010-10-04T15:07:00.003-04:00

Adam and I are expecting our 4th baby sometime during the first week in April. I am currently 13 weeks pregnant, finally starting to get my energy back and the nausea is finally gone! Hoorah!!!! Being pregnant in your 30's sure feels different than in your 20's. Man, I feel like I am getting so old... some days.

I'm throwing in a picture of the two of us because that doesn't happen too often on this blog that seems to have loads of pictures of the kids all the time. (or at least when I blog it does.)

2nd grade and Kindergarten- First Day of School

2010-10-04T14:54:00.008-04:00

Summer when by so quickly. Here are our first day of school pictures.

Zach's looking so old lately. He is only 4 months away from turning 8 and being baptized.

This year Zach has Mrs Miller for his homeroom teacher. He is also has his really good buddy, Jake in all of his classes.

Here's our showman Easton. He can't seem to take a serious picture lately. Which is great because this shows off his fun, silly personality.

Check out this backpack. It's as big as he is.

Easton's Kindergarten teacher is Mrs. Tyler. She is phenomenal and is such a perfect fit for him. I specifically moved Easton to afternoon's in hopes of getting her as a teacher. Thank heavens for great teachers! Easton is doing great and loving school, but especially recess.

Summer in Fast Forward

2010-09-20T09:37:00.021-04:00

We started off the summer with a slow month in June. So uneventful, that I don't even have any pictures to show for what we did. At the end of June, we shipped this kid off to camp...
Zach got the opportunity to drive across the country with his grandpa, known to all as Big Jim. They completed the trip in 5 short days and is a trip Zach will never forget. They started their cross country journey one morning at 4:30 AM. His crazy uncle Matt came up for the send off. This was a BIG event in the Jones' family.
Jim (grandpa) attended this same boys camp (located in New Hampshire) when his was a young boy. He then went on to send all of this sons (Adam included) to camp for as long as they wanted to go. Matt was a super camper and attended many, many summers there. Adam managed to eek out two short summers (home sickness). That doesn't lessen the memories that were made. I've heard about this camp since I've been apart of the family, but especially since Zach was born. He is the oldest grandchild and would be the first one to carry on the family tradition. Zach spent one week traveling out there and two weeks at camp. We sent lots of letters, postcards and care packages. (I'm not going to lie. It was hard to have him gone for so long and I missed him like crazy!)
We ditched Kate and took off in July to go pick him up. Adam, Easton and I flew into Boston. Big Jim picked us up, showed us a quick tour of the city and then whisked us away to New Hampshire.
This is a picture of one of the cabins Zach stayed in. Nothing has changed since the camp opened in 1934. It really is very basic. The boys swim 2 times a day, have the opportunity to do archery, overnight hikes, waterskiing, fishing, riflery and many more activities. It truly is a boys playground.

Q, Adam and I taking a silly picture.
Me seeing Zach for the first time. I practically tackled him. We snuck into the camp a day early and tracked him down. At first he was really glad to see us, until we told him we were there to take him home in a few days. He was really disappointed. He didn't want to leave. Most of the kids were staying for quite a while longer. He did put up a good fight, but an expensive (already paid for) plane ticket home already had his name on it! Plus, I don't think I could have handled having him gone for longer.
This is a picture of Purity Springs. It is a family resort, right down the street from camp where we stayed for a couple of days. Awesome. Imagine the resort out of the movie Dirty Dancing and you got this nailed. Except I didn't see any hot dancers running around half naked caring watermelons. Below is a picture of the waterfront, where the campers go swimming everyday. After swim lessons, there is open water time. Adam joined in the fun and became a camper for the day. He won the award for the biggest splash of all time!

Alright, moving on... (above) Adam and I celebrating 4th of July at Rio Tinto. And the kiddo's watching fireworks. Zach was still at camp.

Adam and Matt traveled to Las Vegas for another fight night. Can you get two bigger smiles than that?

Katelyn discovered climbing in the dyer. I couldn't resist taking this picture. Although I didn't want to encourage her newly discovered hiding place. Thank heavens it hasn't happened again.

I finally found an outlet for my guilt over Kate's birth day. We celebrated with a half year birthday party in Aug. She got spoiled with presents, had loads of fun and was the center of attention. Now we can have a low key celebration on Christmas Day for her and I know that she will get her fun day next summer. Oh... I love getting rid of guilt!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!!

What a dozy of a week...

2010-09-19T18:35:00.005-04:00

This week Adam flew out to California for a job interview. It went awesome! He got the job offer while he was there. Oh what a week. We decided to move. And then decided not to and then decided to. And, finally, decided not to take the job.

Wow.

What. an. emotional. roller. coaster.

Talk about stressful. We were so gone. We told our families, some friends and multiple neighbors. That doesn't even include everyone Zach told at school.

So for now, we're staying put and enjoying the beautiful fall season. That said. The next time this happens, we're not telling anyone we're moving... until it's 100% positively a go and maybe we'll even wait until the moving van shows up.

I never said I was perfect... but I sure thought I could be

2010-09-07T10:25:00.005-04:00

I don't know if I have always been like this, but I've got issues. If I can't do something 100% perfect... well then, in my mental brain... why start? I get overwhelmed easily. I want to be great at something the first time I do it.

For example:

I took a photography class about 2 years ago. I didn't put the time into learning, but I was (and still get) frustrated when my pictures don't turn out fabulous. (Stupid, I know!)

I want my house to be immaculate, organized and clean, but some times it's so overwhelming that I don't even know where to start and then, by the end of the day, I don't have anything to show for what I have done all day. I love the idea of getting my grandma's cleaning system implemented again. However, for some reason I think that just to get started, my house needs to be in mint condition. It's a cleaning system for crying out loud. It's purpose IS to get the house to that place, NOT start there!

I want to have photo books completed for each of the kids AND a family photo album for each year we've been married. We have SO many photos, I don't even know where to start.

I love the idea of having a blog that I actually use. I have a few friends that blog briefly each day about the little things. I love that they do that. That they have those memories recorded. I am disappointed in myself that I haven't blogged in 9 months.

So here I am, lamenting the loss of an undocumented year. But then I was reading one of my favorite blogs this weekend, Simple Mom, and I came across several posts that seem like they were written just for me. She basically said that we except perfection from ourselves and we need to be more forgiving.

She highlighted 6 ways to become more organized and productive. These really resonated with me:

1) Take care of yourself

2) Don't overcommit

3) Plan your time

4) Clear out clutter

5) Change your expectations: pursue excellence in yourself, not perfection. It's not a contest!

6)Enjoy your job

So, as I look back over the past year, it's not like I've been a total slouch, living in squalor. I have spent good quality time with my kids and cultivated a meaningful relationship with each one. I did complete one family photo book that turned out pretty good! I've started playing around with my camera more and though pictures aren't perfect, they're actually looking ok. AND my house may not be up to my standards of perfection each day, but for the most part, it's pretty clean. Though I do have visions of grandure that my kitchen would look like this every day of my life:

So it you haven't figured it out yet, this post is really just for me... To remember that what I'm doing now is good enough. Though you probably now know more about my weird idiosyncratic behaviors that you should. That said, since I haven't looked this blog in months, I sure would be surprised if any one else did to. So here's to being good enough and hopefully some blog updates in the near future!

Zach's 7

2010-01-19T08:11:00.006-05:00

Another year gone by so fast.

Zach continues to be fantastic.

Recently he filled out a paper that was asking what his talents are. He listed piano, reading and school. He loves to read. He has almost completed reading the entire series of The Magic Tree House books.

Zach loves spending time with his friends, Bentley and Jacob.

He's a great soccer player. And is anxious to give football a try this coming year.

He still loves Pizza.

He is ALWAYS hungry. I cannot keep him satisfied.

He loves 1st grade. With the exception of his stalker, a little girl too obssessed with him. (really, girls like this, so soon?)

He is senstitive, sweet, caring, and wonderful as always.

Happy Birthday Zachary!

Quick snapshot of Christmas 2009

2010-01-19T07:57:00.010-05:00

Christmas mouse came with homemade christmas PJ bottoms and slippers to 3 anxiously awaiting children.

Christmas Sunday clothes from Grammie Fletcher.

Santa has the best job on earth. Christmas morning keeps getting better and better around here.

With Laura's December visit came grandparents.

Here's the kids with G & G Stevens.

Kate with Grandpa Fletcher and Great Grandma Fletcher.

And, eventually a picture with the boys and G. Grandma Fletcher. To be posted soon.